Houpara, coastal five-finger, Pseudopanax lessonii, is native to the northern North Island, but not to Wellington. However, after being introduced by people, it now grows wild in Wellington (and many other parts of New Zealand outside its native range). There are now a significant number of New Zealand plants occurring wild outside their indigenous distributions, entirely as a result of human activities. Photo by Leon Perrie. (c) Leon Perrie, Wellington.

Other people go even further when considering restoration, saying that only locally-derived material should be used.

Mahoe, Melicytus ramiflorus, occurs indigenously throughout most of New Zealand. For restorations in, say, Wellington, should only material derived from local-Wellington sources be used? Or, is it okay to use mahoe plants from anywhere? Photo by Leon Perrie. (c) Leon Perrie, Wellington.

But, is it practically possible to ensure such ‘eco-sourcing’? Do the costs outweigh the benefits?

And, what geographic scale is appropriate for eco-sourcing? Should plants be from the same province, river-catchment, …, or hillside?

Is it already too late, at least for some species/communities/regions, to even attempt to ensure that pre-human patterns are preserved? Has the colloquial horse already bolted? Are the ‘genes’ out of the bottle?

And, on a temporal scale, what are the implications from past and future climate-change? Many lowland New Zealand plants were more widespread during past warmer periods (and, similarly, much restricted when it was colder). Indeed, many warmth-loving plants were eliminated completely from New Zealand during the Ice-Age. Given the dynamism of biodiversity, what are appropriate parameters for restoration targets?